Nearly there —

Later than planned, Surface Pro coming February to US and Canada only

There are some new keyboards, too.

Microsoft's Intel-powered tablet finally has a release date, at least for some. Surface Windows 8 Pro (as the company calls it) or Surface Pro (as everyone else refers to it) will go on sale in the US and Canada on February 9th. Unlike its ARM counterpart, the Pro device will be sold in Staples and Best Buy stores from day one.

As previously announced, prices will start at $899 for the 64GB unit. Buyers in other markets will have to wait, and the company has not provided a timeline for a broader international roll-out.

Redmond is also increasing the availability of Surface RT (or rather, "Surface Windows RT" to give it its official appellation). In the coming weeks, the device will go on sale in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Surface RT is also gaining a new SKU. Currently, there are three options: 32GB with no keyboard, 32GB with a black Touch Cover, and 64GB with a black Touch Cover. Microsoft is adding a 64GB-with-no-cover option so that buyers of the 64GB unit aren't forced to get a black keyboard they might not otherwise want. The range of keyboards is getting larger, too: from February there will be three "Touch Cover Limited Edition" keyboard covers in cyan, red, and magenta, each sporting a laser-etched pattern.

The company also announced a new Surface-inspired version of its Wedge Touch Mouse. The Wedge Touch Mouse, Surface Edition gives the existing miniature mouse a new finish to mimic the Surface's VaporMg casing.

The February date means that the Surface Pro is late. The computer was originally announced to be coming about 90 days after the Surface RT. February 9th puts it at 106 days later.

The fact that one is RT, and the other isn't, but RT is about running the "newer sort of applications" -- even though the Pro can run those new applications, but doesn't have RT in its title -- is as confusing as this sentence.

I should have waited for Surface Pro. I did get the Surface RT and do have an early adopter's regret. Surface RT was just not the table I needed. Horse power isn't there and the battery life isn't as good as I liked. It's a good onenote tablet, but I wanted to do more and be able to survive at least 6~8 hours. I may stop playing those xbl games on the tablet as well. They don't seem to do anything good for the battery life,

I doubt the extra 64GB is worth $100 and since the pro uses an SSD in theory it should be possible to swap it out (for better, larger SSDs). Anyone tried opening the RT? I'm assuming it will be similar difficulty (and void the warranty, as there is apparently a tamper sticker on the RT). I'm looking to do game dev on this while I'm bedridden with a broken a leg, so I want to make sure to have adequate space (or the means to add it). Of course general storage needs could be met via usb drive or the network.

I should have waited for Surface Pro. I did get the Surface RT and do have an early adopter's regret. Surface RT was just not the table I needed. Horse power isn't there and the battery life isn't as good as I liked. It's a good onenote tablet, but I wanted to do more and be able to survive at least 6~8 hours. I may stop playing those xbl games on the tablet as well. They don't seem to do anything good for the battery life,

No tablet currently shipping will last 8 hours if you're gaming. Hammer the CPU and GPU and battery life takes a nose dive.

I doubt the extra 64GB is worth $100 and since the pro uses an SSD in theory it should be possible to swap it out (for better, larger SSDs). Anyone tried opening the RT? I'm assuming it will be similar difficulty (and void the warranty, as there is apparently a tamper sticker on the RT). I'm looking to do game dev on this while I'm bedridden with a broken a leg, so I want to make sure to have adequate space (or the means to add it). Of course general storage needs could be met via usb drive or the network.

The Surface RT, like many smartphones or other Android tablets, use eMMC for their flash storage and the only option to add storage is by way of an SD or microSD slot. The Surface Pro is supposed to have a proper SSD instead of an eMMC, but not sure what form-factor Microsoft is using (mSATA, 1.8", etc.)

Why is that Surface Pro get released later than Surface RT?Consider Pro to be a premium product, isn't it normal to have a premium product out first to create hype and rave of good reviews, before letting mid range products out of the door?

I think the biggest problem will be branding the two devices as separate. Imagine grandma goes into Best Buy and sees two almost identical (to grandma) tablets with one at a much lower price point. She will get it for little johnny who will then get upset it won't run Skyrim and put it in the closet or return it.

Yea, I looked at the specs. NoGo. For that price I can get a basic laptop AND a tablet both and have far more flebibility. The use cases for a tablet with a limited pen screen are extremely small, and since it won't do 10 hours on wifi, business gets dropped from that list (not that Win 8 on it didn;t already make that impossible for the next 2-3 years anyway). Basically, some artists might like it, but with 64GB, 4GB RAM, and an anemic underclocked i5, they're not getting far with that anyway, and the fact it can;t be used on your lap with a keyboard at the same time just makes it even more useless.

This is what happens when you let MARKETING design a product. MS learned this lesson I hope, and Win 9 and some real tablets are at most 3 years away. hopefully there's a merket left that wants them to compete in by then.

Suppose we put a Surface in a box, along with a device that randomly may or may not send the press release announcing its release. As long as we don't open the box and observe its contents, the Surface will exist in a state of both released and not released at the same time.

Yea, I looked at the specs. NoGo. For that price I can get a basic laptop AND a tablet both and have far more flebibility. The use cases for a tablet with a limited pen screen are extremely small, and since it won't do 10 hours on wifi, business gets dropped from that list (not that Win 8 on it didn;t already make that impossible for the next 2-3 years anyway). Basically, some artists might like it, but with 64GB, 4GB RAM, and an anemic underclocked i5, they're not getting far with that anyway, and the fact it can;t be used on your lap with a keyboard at the same time just makes it even more useless.

This is what happens when you let MARKETING design a product. MS learned this lesson I hope, and Win 9 and some real tablets are at most 3 years away. hopefully there's a merket left that wants them to compete in by then.

It's Ultrabook specced, so it follows that it will be Ultrabook priced.

Of course, you could make the argument that Ultrabook hardware in general and not only the Surface Pro should be priced closer to whatever your idea of a "basic laptop" is, but, well then, you should go ahead make that argument in the first place.

Why is that Surface Pro get released later than Surface RT?Consider Pro to be a premium product, isn't it normal to have a premium product out first to create hype and rave of good reviews, before letting mid range products out of the door?

Because Microsoft apparently wanted to compete directly with Apple on the RT. The Pro hits a different market so the timing isn't that important. I'm OK with RT coming out first because hopefully any issues with the RT that could have been present with the Pro design got addressed before production began.

Duncan MacLeod wrote:

I think the biggest problem will be branding the two devices as separate. Imagine grandma goes into Best Buy and sees two almost identical (to grandma) tablets with one at a much lower price point. She will get it for little johnny who will then get upset it won't run Skyrim and put it in the closet or return it.

Will the Pro even run Skyrim at the lowest settings? Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated is pretty crap. I plan on running some of the much older PC games on it but I'm betting as far as somewhat current games go League of Legends and most indie titles are about all that will run on this thing.

Why is that Surface Pro get released later than Surface RT?Consider Pro to be a premium product, isn't it normal to have a premium product out first to create hype and rave of good reviews, before letting mid range products out of the door?

My guess is that it could be due to one or more of the following:

- They didn't want to step on hardware manufacturer's toes by releasing a competing premium product- They may not have had immediate access to all of the components used in the Surface Pro- They wanted to test the waters with the Surface RT tablet and ramp up the Surface branding- The potential cost of the Surface Pro may have turned people away as it would be directly compared against the iPad 4, Nexus 10 and other premium tablets; instead of, being compared to ultrabooks and the MacBook Air.

Windows RT has a huge lack of usable, or at least easily discoverable software. The pro surface should fare a bit better on that front, since I do like using Win8 in tablet mode but don't want to rely on the RT ecosystem.

Zune was also US and Canada only for the most part of its life, I think it was only released in a couple of other countries in like 2010 by which point it was already dead anyway.

Not that it would have helped it but still.

Zune was an incredible MP3 player that would have at least competed competently with the iPod had there been global availability. Millions upon millions of people wanted one and simply could not buy it. Once they artificially limited their market, nobody wanted to risk producing accessories for it, so you were stuck with generic armbands, holders, etc.

MS built a great device and their marketing department killed it. I also fear the same will happen with Surface.

The Surface RT, like many smartphones or other Android tablets, use eMMC for their flash storage and the only option to add storage is by way of an SD or microSD slot. The Surface Pro is supposed to have a proper SSD instead of an eMMC, but not sure what form-factor Microsoft is using (mSATA, 1.8", etc.)

Yes, I looked that over a couple days ago; it didn't give me confidence that I (with no dissassembly experience or tools besides torx) could do the job without damaging the thing. Hopefully the pro is easier (given the ssd) but I doubt it.

Micro$oft's neat tech is only getting slow to market in many parts of the world. First I though it was only due to unreliable partners (hello Nokia!) but MS itself seems to have problem's executing. They can really learn from Appl€ in this regard.

In a lot of ways, they did. Their supply chain for the Surface reaches, in a few cases, all the way to the raw materials suppliers. (I wish I could now find the article source. I think it was on WSJ behind the paywall.)

Somebody please kill the Windows marketing team and put it out of our misery.

If I was a shareholder I would sue them. The marketing department is so full of shit especially when it comes to naming. Remember when they were sticking "Windows Live" in EVERY PRODUCT NAME. Games for Windows Live WTF?!?!?

What's up with everyone playing up the "late" angle? "About 90" going to 106 is as accurate as a lot of weather forecasts.

Whether they should have gone with an "about" timeline in the first place is another question... Microsoft's publicity folks are notoriously bad at product rollouts.

For me? They missed the holidays and my birthday. So they're too late. :-P

I was originally rather excited about it - was planning on getting the Pro as my first "tablet", but I've since changed my mind. Maybe had too much time to think about it and couldn't justify the price. I mean, it sounds like a good product, but maybe actually too much - I can do what I want (play light games and browse the web) for less.

If I was a shareholder I would sue them. The marketing department is so full of shit especially when it comes to naming. Remember when they were sticking "Windows Live" in EVERY PRODUCT NAME. Games for Windows Live WTF?!?!?

The new release date means I won't be able to pick this up before our vacation. I'm happy it will be at Best Buy though as I have some gift cards. I may be picking mine up on the 9th.

I am interested in the possibility of upgrading the SSDlike a commenter above. I had been leaning towards the 128, but I probably don't need that size.

I don't care what they're calling it...or that it's "late"

Just to throw in an off-topic $0.02, you probably do need that storage. Not because you'll use it, but rather because having storage issues is an annoyance every time you use the device. I'd much rather have more than I need than to be constantly worrying about housekeeping, or trying to upload a mass of data to Skydrive over my painfully slow ADSL.